The change in hair color is an important area of modern cosmetics and enables an adaptation of the hair's appearance to current fashion trends and the individual wishes of the individual person. The bleaching of some hair color, however, has always been the wish of many consumers, because a blond hair color is considered attractive and desirable from a fashion perspective. For this purpose, various bleaching agents in the market are available with varying bleaching performance. The oxidants contained in these products are capable of lightening the hair fibers by means of oxidative destruction of the hair's own color, melanin. For a moderate bleaching effect, use of hydrogen peroxide is suitable—optionally with the use of ammonia or other alkalizing agents—as a sole oxidizing agent; for a stronger bleaching effect, a mixture of hydrogen peroxide and peroxodisuilfate salts and/or peroxomonosulfate salts is normally used.
However, the bleaching usually also entails damage to the hair, because, in addition to the color of the hair, the remaining structural components are also oxidatively damaged. Depending on the character of the degree of damage, this can vary from rough, brittle and difficult-to-comb hair to a reduce resilience and strength of the hair to hair break. The greater the amount of hydrogen peroxide that is used, and optionally peroxodisulfate, the greater the damage caused to the keratinous fibers normally is.
To avoid or minimize the hair damage cause by the oxidative processes, manufacturers are constantly looking for new ingredients and active ingredients.
Appropriate active ingredients can be used as pre-treatment agents before the oxidative dyeing and/or lightening process, during the oxidative treatment—as a supplement to the oxidative color or bleaching agent—or as a post-treatment agent. Of particular interest is the presence of active ingredients that can be used as a pre-treatment agent and as a post-treatment agent, which can also be added to the oxidative bleaching or dyeing agent and thus minimize or prevent damage during the oxidative hair treatment process.
Therefore, the problem addressed by the present disclosure is to prepare novel agents for the treatment of hair, which minimize or prevent the hair damage caused by an oxidative hair treatment process. These agents should be suitable for universal use, i.e. they should be suitable for use as a pre-treatment and/or post-treatment agent and also added directly to the oxidative bleaching or dyeing agent. Since the agents should also be used as an additive to an already existing bleaching and/or dyeing product, the present disclosure of active ingredients that already have a good effect in low amounts is of particular interest.
Various substances that can be ascribed a nurturing effect are already known from the prior art. They are normally absorbed on the hair surface and smooth the roughened and/or damaged cuticula. A reduction of hair damage can also be achieved with these compounds. However, if the consumer washes their hair, these substances are rinsed off of the surface of the hair again. For this reason, achievement of a long-term nurturing effect is not possible with the use of substances that only perform the nurturing effect on the cuticula with application on the surface.
The present application also addressed the problem of preparing hair treatment agents that have a long-term nurturing effect and the nurturing effect is also retained after repeatedly washing the hair.